


Worry Wart

by merthurkdramas_101



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: And love, Arthur is a worry wart, Balinor is a mysterious bastard, Little bit of smut, Lots of Cuddling, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Merlin is a mind reader, Merlin is the big spoon, SO FLUFFY, also, and disney, and fluff, and sap, bottom Arthur is implied, omg, so is Hunith, there is lots of kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-30
Updated: 2017-01-30
Packaged: 2018-09-20 14:47:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9496370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merthurkdramas_101/pseuds/merthurkdramas_101
Summary: Arthur and Merlin make a trip to visit Hunith, but Arthur has the ulterior motive of asking Hunith permission to marry Merlin, so Arthur worries a lot before and during the trip. BUT Hunith knows what Arthur's going to ask, and Merlin...does he know too?





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Hisa_Ai](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hisa_Ai/gifts).



> Hisa_Ai, this is for you! I'm so sorry it's so late!! I was so excited when I got you as a giftee!!! I LOVE all of your work, and I was so honored to be able to write you a story! I hope this lives up to your expectations! I decided on your third prompt, but then I realized, what’s a good proposal story without some fluff before the proposal?! So I combined them :3 I hope you like this, and I hope my writing turns out to be as good as yours!!! 
> 
> Sebastian, thank you for letting me help you be a pinch hitter! I enjoyed writing for this exchange—it’s more than I’ve written in over a year, I think! Lolol it was good for me :3 Wishing you all a happy 2017! <333333
> 
> WARNINGS: crack meet-cute, more attempts at trying to be funny, and a mind-reading Emrys family

His ears are half the reason Arthur Pendragon is so in love with Merlin.

They met in the supermarket—Arthur buying necessities and Merlin buying CDs and too many pens, in Arthur’s opinion. The first thing he noticed were his ears. They were wide and beautiful and highlighted by the way his black, unruly hair curled around the back of them, and the hair framed his beautifully structured face. Arthur knew right then he was gone.

Merlin was talking to the store clerk, Daegal (who is now a good friend of both of them, thanks to this incident), about where to find headphones.

“My cheap, stringy ones are becoming dysfunctional, and since my birthday’s coming up next week, I figured I’d treat myself.”

Daegal just opened his mouth to respond when Arthur blurts out, per his foot-in-mouth syndrome, “I don’t think you’ll find any big enough, mate. Your ears are huge.”

Both Daegal and Merlin turned to him, the latter with huge pink spots all over his face, mouth opening and closing, and Arthur hated himself.

When he saw Merlin eye what Arthur was buying, he looked back up and locked eyes with Arthur, and he could tell by the golden glint in Merlin’s eyes that he was going to be mortified by whatever came out of his mouth next.

“I don’t think you could either. Since your mouth seems to be bigger than your brawn,” he said as he peered down to look at Arthur’s below-the-belt line. “You sure yours doesn’t slip out of that size?”

Arthur turned a nice puce color, one Arthur thought Morgana would love to have on her devilish nails, and turned to run out of the shop without his condoms and lube. Wanking would have to wait.

Two weeks after that incident, Arthur ran into Merlin in the produce aisle and they both apologized and went out for a cup of coffee that weekend.

Now, five years, three months and four days later, Arthur watches his boyfriend’s ears give off a silhouette from the rising sun and smiles as he watches Merlin burrow further into his pillow and twitch his nose. He snuggles into Merlin’s chest and wraps his arms around him, heart melting at the sight of his soft smile as his arms squeeze just a hair tighter around Arthur.

“Good morning,” Arthur says.

“Mnff,” Merlin says back.

Arthur chuckles and pulls back to start kissing his chest softly. His half-hard cock grows as he hears Merlin moan softly and sees him tilt his neck back to give Arthur more access as he kisses his way up.

“Stay with me today.”

“Mmm…you know I can’t, Arthur. My students have a paper due— _fuck_ , Arthur, yes—in the next couple weeks and they still don’t know how to write shit.”

Arthur pulls his lips back from Merlin’s collarbone and pouts. “Please? I wasn’t planning on going in to work this morning after I saw your stupid ears.”

Merlin chuckles. “You and my ears, I swear. You’re the only boyfriend I’ve had that is obsessed with them.”

Arthur nips Merlin’s neck, jealous, and smirks at Merlin’s shudder. “But I’m the _best_ boyfriend you’ve ever had.”

Merlin chuckles again and pulls Arthur’s face up to his so they can kiss. It’s soft and lazy, tongue staying out of the way since Merlin’s morning breath is really quite atrocious. Merlin moans when Arthur drops his mouth to his neck again and starts to nibble, trailing his fingers below Merlin’s boxers.

“Stay, Merlin.”

“Arthur—”

“ _Please_ ,” he says as he wraps his fist lightly around Merlin’s hard cock. He sucks Merlin’s collarbone and starts to pump him slowly, chuckling when he hears Merlin whimper and twist his fingers in Arthur’s hair. He loves it when Merlin tugs his head to places he wants to be kissed. Arthur complies when Merlin guides him down to his nipple, and Arthur starts to lick and kiss and rub both of them, reveling in the feeling of Merlin’s sleep-warm body underneath him and tangled in his scalp.

He starts pumping faster when Merlin thrusts his hips up; faster but still teasing. His goal is to convince Merlin to stay, after all. “Arthur, Arthur, oh God.”

Arthur groans and sucks another bruise to Merlin’s collarbone and starts humping his thigh. Merlin groans softly and pulls Arthur’s head up again and kisses him, with tongue this time. It’s still good, despite the morning breath, and Arthur shudders when Merlin’s tongue touches his for the first time.

They’ve formed a rhythm—while Arthur fists Merlin’s prick, Merlin lifts his hips up so Arthur can feel the friction on his. They go on like this for a few minutes, lazily moving, kissing, grabbing, groaning, when suddenly, Arthur pulls back and laughs at Merlin’s outraged look.

“What the _fuck_ are you doing? Come back here right now!”

“Stay.”

Merlin rolls his eyes and gets up on his knees and walks over to Arthur, smothering him in a hard kiss.

“As if you could make me leave after that. Give me a sec to send an email to my students. They’ll be psyched.”

Arthur follows Merlin off the bed and wraps his arms around his stomach as Merlin fires up his laptop. While he’s composing the email, Arthur kisses down Merlin’s ears, neck, shoulders and upper back and starts humping him gently.

“Arthur, _fuck_ , let me write this email and I’ll be all yours.”

“You’re already all mine, love.”

He smiles into Merlin’s neck when he feels him shudder. Arthur doesn’t use pet names often, but when he does, it means he wants something or that he’s feeling particularly affectionate.

“Fuck it. Screw grammar. They’ll figure out what I mean.”

Arthur smiles when Merlin finally hits send and shoves him down on the bed.

“Now, where were we?” Arthur smirks.

***

They end up sleeping till noon after their morning sex escapade, and when Arthur wakes up, he has three voicemails; two from his assistant, Gwen, and one from his father.

“You’d better be sick or dying. You were supposed to meet your father about the Mercia deal today.”

“Arthur, I got Merlin’s email. You’re besotted, the both of you. I can’t believe you managed to get Merlin to take a day off! I also held off your father, but call me back when you’ve stopped shagging so I know you’re actually okay.”

“Arthur, Gwen informed me that you’ve taken a sick day. I hope you feel better and that Merlin is taking good care of you. Call me when you’re better. The meeting has been postponed till next week.”

Arthur’s laughing by the end of listening to all of them with a slight blush on his face, eyeing Merlin who’s finishing up their lunch of grilled cheese and chips.

“You sent Gwen an email as well?”

Merlin looks over his shoulder at Arthur and smiles. “I knew if one of us didn’t, she’d start calling ceaselessly and then I wouldn’t be able to fuck you as many times as I did,” he finishes lecherously. It wasn’t helping that he was wearing nothing but Arthur’s underwear.

“Fuck, Merlin let’s eat first. I’m starving.”

Merlin rolls his eyes. “You’re always starving. I’m almost done. Why don’t you pick a movie? I’ll be over in a second.”

Arthur gets up and rummages through his Disney collection, settling on The Sword in the Stone. The Disney logo shows up on the screen when Merlin comes in with two plates balanced on one arm and two beer bottles cradled in his other.

“You idiot, you could’ve asked me for help,” Arthur says as he gets up to help.

Merlin kisses his cheek as they settle down in the couch. “I know how much you love watching the ads before the movie, weirdo. What are we watching this time?”

Merlin groans as the title scene comes up. “Ugh you’re such a prat. You would want to watch a movie about us right now.”

“I thought it was fitting since you actually decided to stay in with me today.”

“Whatever you say, Wart. I know how you’re actually egotistical.”

Arthur thwacks the bottle up while Merlin takes a sip, laughing at him when he splutters and flails and chokes on the beer that isn’t falling down his chest.

“Arthur!”

“Merlin! I told you never to call me that!”

“Well, it’s not _my_ fault. Blame Disney.”

“Fuck off,” he says, hiding a grin behind a large bite of the sandwich. It’s delicious, as always.

“Fatty,” Merlin mutters.

“Idiot.”

“Dollophead.”

“That’s still not a word, Merlin.”

“It is too.”

Arthur rolls his eyes and wraps his arm around Merlin, pulling him in to the crook of his arm and kisses the top of his head.

They’re halfway through the movie when Merlin speaks, suddenly. “By the way, I meant to tell you. I’m going to visit my mum two weekends from now. She’s been calling for over a month for me to come visit. Since it’s a long weekend, I’ll head down and I should be back by Monday night.”

“I’ll come with you!” and immediately flinches at how loud he was and settles back into the couch, cowering from Merlin’s raised eyebrow. “I mean…it’s been a while since I’ve seen Hunith. I may as well just come with you.”

“Don’t you have your big Mercia deal coming up?”

“Yeah, but Morgana’s mostly in charge of it. I was just helping her out with the smaller details. I’m sure she won’t mind if I take off a weekend. She’s been pushing for me to take some time off, anyway.”

Merlin’s eyebrow raises higher, but a small, lovely smile starts forming on his lips. “Yeah, okay. I’ll let her know you’re coming, then.” Merlin presses a kiss to his cheek and Arthur can’t help but smile widely and let Merlin spoon him while they finish their movie.

He has no idea what’s coming, Arthur thinks.

***

The plan, for the last seven months, has been going to visit Hunith to ask her permission to marry Merlin. And it’s not that Arthur’s scared of her saying no…it’s not that at all. It’s just that he hasn’t had the time. Sure, the past three months he’s had his weekends free, and there was that one terrible week when Merlin had to go to a conference in Ireland and he was alone at home…but he just didn’t find the time to actually go down and ask her. He’s had the ring since their second anniversary and a plan in mind since after their fourth, but just the process of asking had him on edge.

And Arthur figured that now he actually had a plan to go meet Hunith, he’d feel less anxious about it. But the past week proved him wrong.

The first week was fine, but the Monday before they were supposed to leave, Arthur found that he couldn’t stop thinking about all the possible scenarios of asking Hunith for Merlin’s hand. Every night since that Monday, he’d come up with at least 20 different ways of Hunith saying no—from politely refusing, saying “you’re not good enough for him”, to her bringing out a shotgun from underneath the kitchen table and shooting him in the dick. Rationally, Arthur knows Hunith would never do that, but he has gotten probably a total of 12 hours of sleep this whole week.

Arthur can’t help but feel bad about it, too. Merlin’s been over the moon about Arthur coming down with him, chattering endlessly about all the places he’s going to take Arthur, all the food they’re going to eat and the activities he has planned for them. They’ve been before, but since they could only go for a night or two, they never had time to do many things.

“Oh, Arthur you’re going to love it! And I’ll take you to one of my favorite places in the world. I haven’t been there since before I moved to London.”

“Yeah?” Arthur says as Merlin spoons him.

“I would go there all the time during high school. I’d just come out to my mum, Will and Freya, and they were fine with it, but the rest of the school wasn’t, obviously. So a lot of the time, I’d just want to get away from all the noise and people and I would go there.”

Arthur rubs his thumb across Merlin’s back when he realizes Merlin was struggling with getting something out. He kisses his shoulder and nuzzles in closer when he hears Merlin sigh and wrap his arms around Arthur tighter.

“My dad showed it to me.”

Arthur pulls back from Merlin’s embrace and looks at Merlin’s face. There are tears there, trying not to fall. Arthur strokes Merlin’s cheek and kisses his forehead.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asks softly.

Merlin sighs. “Not really.”

“Okay.”

He knows Merlin’s feelings towards his dead father are mixed. He’d left Hunith and Merlin when Merlin was just six years old and showed up three years ago, trying to make amends because he was dying of cancer. The next few months were a trying time, for both Merlin and his family and Arthur and Merlin. Merlin was happy that his father was back and tried to fix it all before he died, but he was furious some nights, angry and confused about why he didn’t try and come back earlier. They almost broke up after Balinor died because Merlin wouldn’t talk to Arthur at all about what he was feeling. He kept it all bottled up and wouldn’t let Arthur in.

“If you’re going to be this way forever, Merlin, if you won’t let me in, I can’t be with you anymore.”

Merlin cursed him out and left the flat for a week. It was the worst week of Arthur’s life. He came back late at night on a Friday and cried and hugged Arthur, begging for forgiveness at being so closed off. They cried all night, made love and talked about nothing and everything. Just before Arthur drifted off to sleep, he heard Merlin whisper, “I was scared you’d leave me too.”

Arthur hugs Merlin closer and kisses his forehead again and again until he feels Merlin go pliant. “Go to sleep, love. We have a long day tomorrow.”

“I love you, Arthur.”

“I love you too, Merlin.”

***

Arthur did not sleep a wink that night, and in the office the next day, he was completely useless.

“Arthur, get home and get in a nap before you have to hit the road. You’re making me grouchy.”

“You’re always grouchy, Morgana.”

She snorts but sits down in the chair in front of him.

“What are you so worried about?”

He sighs. “I’m visiting Hunith.”

She raises her perfectly shaped eyebrow, red lips curling into a frown.

“Yes. You’ve visited her before.”

“But, I’m…going to ask her.”

“Yes, Arthur, you’ve told me so. You even told Father. Who, may I add, is disgustingly happy now. I swear I heard him whistling the other day.”

“But I’m—”

Arthur starts when he hears a scrape and ducks his head before Morgana can smack him.

“Arthur, I swear to God. You are the most insecure egomaniac I’ve ever met in my life. Hunith is almost as in love with you as Merlin is, and if you think they _both_ are going to say no to you, you’re ridiculous.”

Arthur balks—he didn’t even _consider_ how Merlin would react when he asked him.

“Oh God. You are a fucking pain in my everywhere, Arthur. Merlin. Will. Say. Yes. They both will! Now stop worrying and go home!”

Arthur sighs but lets his sister drag him up from his chair and push him out the door. He waves goodbye to Gwen, who gives him a thumbs-up and a bright smile. He tries for a smile back, but judging by how she and Morgana laugh at him, it doesn’t turn out too good.

He’s humming along to The Jungle Book’s “Bare Necessities” when Merlin comes in.

“Arthur! You’re home early!”

“Wasn’t much to do today. I’m ready, though. Let me know how long you need and I’ll be ready.”

Merlin comes to the couch and kisses his lips softly, and Arthur winces when he sees his face full of worry.

“What’s wrong? You never hum along unless you’re sad.”

Arthur huffs and tries to shrug off Merlin. “I’m fine.”

Merlin raises his eyebrow but pulls back. “All right. Just give me half an hour and I’ll be ready.”

Arthur nods and watches Mowgli and Baloo float down the river with no worries or strife.

“I wanna be like you,” he says to them.

***

They’re stopped in a diner, three hours left of the trip, for dinner. Merlin’s ordered a salad because he’s rabbit and Arthur’s ordered a soup because the nerves are feeding him just fine. Merlin’s been going off like a rocket. Arthur doesn’t think he’s taken a breath since they both got in the car.

“We can turn back, Arthur.”

Arthur snaps out of staring at his steaming pile of goop and stares at Merlin. He’s alternating between flipping over his carrots with his fork and drawing shapes in the applesauce, eyes carefully not meeting Arthur’s.

“Merlin, we’re more than halfway there. Why would we turn back now?”

“Well, you haven’t said anything this whole trip and you’ve been picking at your nails and I think there’s a hole in the passenger side carpet from your foot bouncing. You’re nervous about the deal, I know. I asked Morgana about it and she said _you’ve_ been working on it for the past three and a half months! Why didn’t you just tell me? I could’ve come by myself, Arthur. I’ve done the trip before; I can do it without you.”

Arthur’s heart is jumping up and down and sideways at Merlin’s confession and his suggestion. This is not how he thought the trip was going to be, even though he kind of knew he would be a bore. He imagined Merlin’s eclectic music blasting through the speakers, both of them singing along to the words and laughing and holding hands as they speed down the highway. Sitting in a diner with subpar food and both filled with nerves over going to Ealdor is not what he intended.

“Merlin, the deal isn’t the problem.”

Arthur hears a clatter and looks up at Merlin, whose face has grown white and eyes wide, sheen of tears over them. Oh god.

“No! Merlin, I am not breaking up with you, God!”

“Well then why have you been so standoffish the past week?! I tried to not be so excited about getting to show you off to everyone, but…”

“Merlin, I’ve been nervous about meeting everyone!”

“What? Why? You’ve met them all before.”

“What, you don’t think it’s natural for someone to worry over visiting his boyfriend’s parents and old friends? I know Will hates me, but now I’ll have to spend the whole weekend with him? What if I massively fuck something up and unintentionally offend someone so much that they forbid me to see my fucking amazing boyfriend again?”

“Arthur—”

“I’m just scared, Merlin. It’s the first time I’m staying around your friends. I want them to like me. I know they matter to you.”

Arthur startles when he finds Merlin in his lap suddenly. He presses his forehead to Arthur’s and rubs their noses together.

“You matter to me more, you dollophead. Who gives a fuck what Will thinks? It’s been the motto of our town since he was old enough to speak, you know.”

Arthur sighs and wraps his arms around Merlin. “I love you.”

Merlin kisses his nose. “I love you too, you prat. Stop fretting. Everyone will love you. Hell, my mother already loves you. She’s made _all_ of your favorites for dinner tonight. You know what she makes for me when I get home? Gruel. It’s not even good porridge!”

Arthur laughs and relaxes into his boyfriend’s grip, pressing soft kisses against his face. Eventually, Merlin sits down beside him and chatters on about life in Ealdor while he eats his salad and applesauce while Arthur downs the surprisingly really good soup.

Maybe…maybe it won’t be so bad at all.

***

The rest of the drive is more enjoyable, as Merlin does play his weird music and they both sing off-key and entwine their fingers over the middle armrest. Arthur smiles when Hunith greets him with a bone-crushing hug and a kiss to his cheek.

Dinner is amazing, as always, because yes, she has cooked all of Arthur’s favorites, and Merlin and Arthur head to bed with stomachs too full for anything but cuddling. Merlin’s hand is wrapped around Arthur’s as he mumbles their plan for tomorrow in his hair, and Arthur doesn’t realize his hand is wrapping around Merlin’s tighter with every word that comes out of his mouth until Merlin kisses him softly.

“It’ll be all right, love.”

***

It was most definitely not all right. Will is as horrible as Arthur remembers and Freya just as sweet. The first thing Will says when he sees them both holding hands is, “You still haven’t dumped him?” Merlin smacks Will across the head and Freya steps on his foot, but Arthur doesn’t talk for the rest of the evening, not even returning retorts to Will’s jabs.

They spend about two hours in town, going to little stalls selling small things, walking around the farmer’s market and strolling along the beach and Arthur alternates between listening to Merlin carry on conversations with his childhood friends and staring at the ground. Right before they turn the corner for the movie theatre, though, Merlin pulls Arthur aside and snogs him as hard as the first time they had make up sex.

Arthur responds in kind—because how could he fucking not? —, struggling to stop moving his hips against Merlin’s erection. He tilts his head back against the brick wall of the alley, letting Merlin lick and suck at his neck while he grinds helplessly against Arthur’s thigh. He lets out a moan as soon as Merlin’s hand drops to his ass and _squeezes_ , but Merlin’s hand is over his mouth before he can tell him _don’t fucking stop_.

“Listen to me, you dollophead. I love you. You are the reason I’m here and I’m happy—not Will. At the end of the day, I’ll be home in your arms, love. With your stuffed bear named Frog and your Disney movies and bad humming and listening to you write and obsess over _Supernatural_ fanfiction while you’re stark naked, eating a box of cookies we both know you don’t need. I don’t give a fuck about what Will or anyone thinks about you or me. I care what _you_ think about you and me.

Arthur closes his eyes around the tears that fall and sighs when he feels Merlin wipe them away, kissing him again softly. With love. Merlin drops his head against Arthur’s shoulder and Arthur’s heart stops when he feels warm drops fall on his neck.

“If you care too, take me home, Arthur. Take me home and let me be yours because I want to be.”

So Arthur takes him home.

***

Arthur wakes up to a soft knock on his door and a cold space on his left side. He opens his eyes and finds Merlin gone, but a note in the place where his body always is.

 _I’ve gone to give Will a kick up the asshole. And to say sorry to Freya—I’ll probably be gone till dinner time. I love you, prat._ _–Merlin <3 _

He starts when he hears the door open.

“Arthur? I’ve made some lunch for you. You want to come down?”

Arthur grabs his phones and winces when he sees it’s half past one. “Thank you, Hunith. I’ll be down in a minute.”

She smiles at him and shuts the door softly.

Arthur lies back in bed, grinning at the note and the soreness behind him. Merlin fucked him hard and long last night, not showing Arthur any mercy for being an idiot. Arthur did not complain at all.

He stretched out his kinks and rolled out of bed, picking up his underwear from the floor and rummaging through his bag for a pair of pajamas that he hasn’t worn since he started dating Merlin. He brushed his teeth and quickly washed his face and made his way down to see Hunith sipping at her tea, reading a book with a steaming ham sandwich, pickles and coffee in the space next to her.

“Thank you, Hunith. I’m so sorry for sleeping in so late.”

She looks up from her book and smiles at him. “You must be so exhausted. Merlin’s been telling me how hard you’ve been working. You deserve your rest.”

He smiles back at her and takes a bite of the sandwich, holding in a moan at the taste of it.

“Of course, I can also imagine Merlin doesn’t let you rest much either.”

Arthur chokes on his sandwich, blushing furiously and forces himself to look at Hunith. She’s sipping her tea, eyebrow raised, smirk hidden by her mug.

“Um…”

“It’s a wonder you want to marry him when he’s so bossy.”

Arthur spits out the water he was drinking and starts choking again, this time hiding his face behind his glass of water and very pointedly looking at the knitted placemat under his plate.

“Oh Arthur, really. Were you really so unaware about why I thought you were coming? Not that I’ve been cross with you not coming as much as Merlin has—I understand you’re busy. But it’s been five years with Merlin and I’ve not seen you for nearly a year.”

He looks up at her then, and her book is down, smile on her face and eyes kind.

“I—I just wanted to be sure it was all right with you,” he says.

She sighs and cups Arthur’s cheek in her palm and he sobs.

“You are practically my son, Arthur. I would’ve thought you would’ve asked me as soon as you bought the ring three years ago.”

He closes his eyes and huffs out a laugh. “Of course you’d know about that.”

She chuckles. “Arthur, look at me.”

He opens his eyes and places his hands on top of Hunith’s where she’s grabbed his face.

“I know…you’ve never had a mother,” Arthur holds his breath. “But I’ve always thought of you as my son. If you didn’t already know that, I’m afraid there’s nothing else I can do to make you feel more a part of this family than you already are. My answer is of course, Arthur. Marry Merlin and make him happy. Become part of this family. If not for me, then for Merlin.”

“Hunith, you’ve been a mother to me since I first met you.”

Her rough thumbs swipe at his cheek, and he copies her motion, wiping at her tears, smiling.

“Well then. I’m glad we got that out of the way. It was driving me crazy because I wasn’t sure you were actually going to bring it up.”

Arthur laughs again and nearly starts to cry again when Hunith grabs a napkin from the table and wipes his nose.

“I’m not five, you know.”

She tuts and tells him to blow his nose. “You’re still my boy, though.”

***

Arthur finishes his lunch and Hunith her tea, talking about Merlin, work and Arthur’s childhood when Hunith asks about his stuffed animal.

“I’ve seen you with it every time you come here. Even when I woke you up this morning, he was being suffocated in your arms.”

Arthur chuckles. “My mother made it for me.”

Hunith grabs his hand and Arthur squeezes back. “My father gave it to me on my third birthday; he figured I’d know words by then. I was obsessed with frogs for some reason and was rather cross that my father gave me a stuffed bear, so he suggested I name it Frog. Of course, when he told me this story when I was older, I tried to be rid of it and come up with a different name, but I just couldn’t.”

She smiles at him kindly then reaches under the coffee table to pull out an old book.

“Have I ever told you about Doodles?”

After Hunith’s amazing story of Merlin’s stuffed dog named Doodles and how the white dog went black from Merlin coloring on it so much, they go through all the photo albums again, marveling at how chubby Merlin was when he was a toddler and how skinny he is now.

“I swear, the amount of food he eats now is appalling. I half expected him to grow 20 pounds after our one-year anniversary!”

Hunith laughs. “He gets that from me. I was the same way when I was his age. I guess it’ll all hit me when I’m old and wrinkly.”

“Nonsense. You’re in perfect shape.”

“Oh Arthur, you’re such a charmer.”

The door opens and Arthur almost jumps up and hugs Merlin when he sees him walk through the door.

“Oh no, not the photo albums!”

They both laugh. “It’s nothing I’ve never seen before, Merlin.”

“Yeah, but whenever you do, you call me Chubby after for like, months!”

“You always call me fat!”

“Yeah, but that’s different. You’re _actually_ fat.”

Merlin laughs as he comes to kiss Arthur. “Hi,” he whispers.

“Hey,” Arthur says back.

“Hello, Merlin. My day has been fantastic, thank you for asking. It’s not like I’m your mother or anything.”

Merlin gives Arthur a smirk and eyebrow raise as he nods to his mother, kissing his nose before he goes and jumps on her lap and kisses her face.

“Oh, my dear mother! I haven’t seen you in so long, I’m so sorry! I love you, I love you, I love you!”

They both laugh as Merlin gets a smack on the head from Hunith, and Arthur feels full.

***

After dinner that night, Merlin takes Arthur on a surprise date. They go to the ice skating rink, where Arthur brings up Merlin in a tutu; to Gaius’s ice cream shop where they have the best ice cream Arthur’s ever tasted; and around 9:30pm, Merlin’s driving Arthur around a long, curvy road where there are no lights, save for the headlights from the car.

“Where are you taking me?”

“Can’t you just wait? It’s a surprise.”

“Merlin, usually you and your surprises end up in some kind of disaster. Remember our first Valentine’s?”

Merlin chuckles. “That was only because I was trying to impress you.”

For their first Valentine’s, Merlin snuck into Arthur’s apartment and tried to make him breakfast in bed—which only ended up with Arthur calling 119 because he’d started a fire in the kitchen. They spent Valentine’s Day in the hospital where Merlin received treatment for his second degree burns from making pancakes.

“By burning your arms? I thought you were a professional at pancakes?”

“It was only because I was so nervous! I’d never made food for anyone else before. No one else let me cook for them.”

Arthur grabbed Merlin’s hand from the wheel and brought it to his mouth to kiss his knuckles. “I loved every minute of it, you know.”

Merlin looks over at Arthur and smiles.

The rest of the way, they bicker and reminisce about old times, laughing and snorting while Arthur constantly reminds Merlin to keep his eyes on the road.

“We’re almost there, anyway.”

“And ‘there’ is?”

Merlin rolls his eyes and pulls up into a gravelly patch of land. He stops the car and gets out, so Arthur follows him.

“Follow me,” Merlin says as he ducks underneath the bushes. He uses his phone as a flashlight and Arthur tries not to freak out because there could be spiders in the dark, dark woods and bushes they’re crawling through.

“If there’s a spider, Arthur, I’ll protect you.”

“Yeah right. You would crawl up my back and yell like a girl.”

Merlin smacks his head. “Don’t be such a misogynist.”

“I’m hardly a misogynist, Merlin.”

“Then shut up, Arthur.”

Arthur scowls but grabs the back of Merlin’s shirt and walks up to his back to stay close.

They’ve walked around for about five minutes when Merlin turns around and covers Arthur’s eyes.

“What are you doing?”

“Just trust me.”

So Arthur lets Merlin lead him. Arthur counts 48 steps before Merlin says, “Lay down.”

He does and hears Merlin lay down next to him. “Okay, open your eyes.”

When Arthur does, the first thing he sees is the Milky Way—there are stars _everywhere_. It’s so bright and beautiful and the colors are fantastic. He hasn’t seen stars like this at all.

“Merlin, this is—this is beautiful.”

“This is my place.”

Arthur turns his head and finds Merlin looking up wistfully.

“My dad used to take me here. The last time he did was the night before he left. He told me, ‘Merlin, you’ll always be my son, and I’ll always love you. But sometimes, you need to do things for yourself. You need to be selfish so you can stay happy. I love you and your mother, okay? I love you both very much. Never forget that.’”

Arthur squeezes his hand.

“He never actually told me what he did all that time away from us, but he always looked happy. And I didn’t think I’d ever understand why he did what he did. But when…after he died and we had that fight, I think I understood then.”

“What?”

“I was unhappy then, because I had this huge whole where my father was supposed to be, and when he died, it was like he took a part of me with him. Those six months were the weirdest of my life, and I learned from our fight that _you_ had that part of me, not my father.”

They never brought up their big fight again. They talked about it that night and had other fights, but nothing was as big as that one. Arthur constantly felt like he should bring it up because there were so many things Merlin wasn’t saying to him, but he let it go because he was scared Merlin would leave again.

“That week was the worst of my life, Merlin,” he says softly.

Merlin sits up and looks at Arthur, determined about something, so Arthur sits up as well.

“It was for me too, Arthur. I swear, I’ll never walk out on you like that again.” He lurches forward and wraps Arthur in a hug, then speaks again.

“I realized in that week that I loved you so much that it hurt me—that you had all of this power over me because of how much I cared about you, so I left. I realized that that’s why my dad left. Because he didn’t want to have something so precious taken away from him.”

Merlin pulls back and grabs Arthur’s face in his hands, wipes his tears and brings their foreheads together.

“I realized that I could never be my father. I love you too much to be away from you, Arthur. It scares me how much you mean to me.”

“Merlin, you mean more to me then—then anything. You’re all that matters to me. I would never leave you, I hope you know that.”

Merlin pulls back slightly and drops his hand to rummage through his pocket for something. When he brings his hand up, Arthur stiffens and falls back on his butt.

“How did you—”

“My answer is yes, Arthur.”

Arthur lets out a breath and surges forward to catch Merlin’s mouth to kiss him senseless—to punish him for not letting him ask correctly, for saying yes, for loving him so much, for being his best friend. “You idiot, you’re supposed to let me ask the question first.”

Merlin laughs. “I’ve been waiting for you to ask for three years, Arthur.”

Arthur sighs and laughs against Merlin’s neck. “You and your mother are the exact same, I swear.”

“You don’t know how many conversations we’ve had about when you would actually propose.”

“Idiot.”

“Clotpole.”

“I love you, Merlin.”

Merlin smiles and kisses his nose. “I love you too.”

***

**~~Three Years, Eight Months and One Day Later**

This time, it takes Arthur a year and a half to get his plan into motion because he’s been careful in dropping hints and is more confident that Merlin will say yes. That, and because of the metaphorical kick in the ass from his father and actual kick in the ass from Morgana.

He makes dinner that night (and manages not to burn it), lighting candles, dimming the lights and putting on one of Merlin’s weird CDs in the brilliant sound system of their new home (the house was a wedding gift from Uther). He times it perfectly, too perfectly, he thinks as Merlin walks through the door just as Arthur’s filled up the second glass of rosé (Merlin’s favorite).

“Arthur? Why does our house look like that pasta scene from _Lady and the Tramp_?”

“It’s spaghetti, Merlin, jeez. And I can be romantic once in a while.”

“Only when you want something,” Merlin says as he rounds the corner into the kitchen. He smiles and kisses Arthur on the mouth, dragging it on longer than his usual “I’m home” kisses. “Hello.”

“Hi,” he smiles back soppily. He can’t help it.

“So, before you tell me what you want, I need to tell you something too.”

Arthur grabs Merlin’s hand and leads him to their dining table. He sits down, foot bouncing up and down as he watches Merlin sip his rosé as he slides a small stack of papers across to Arthur.

Arthur’s not even a quarter of the way done reading the first page when he looks up at Merlin with tears in his eyes.

“All it needs is your signature,” Merlin says, soft and gentle, but the excitement in his eyes mirrors Arthur’s when he pushes back from his chair and lands in Merlin’s lap.

“You. Are. Absolutely maddening,” he says between kisses.

“You need to stop being a worry wart. This is the second time I’ve beat you to the punch,” Merlin says with his arms holding Arthur, firm and carefully. His eyes are full with love and a future Arthur can’t stop dreaming about.

“Boy or girl?” he asks.

“Whatever your heart desires, love. I’m just happy I’m getting my happy ending.”

“You’re such a sap.”

“I’m not the one who has all the Disney movies.”

“No, but you condone it.”

“Not as much as you do.”

Arthur kisses him again, slowly tugging at Merlin’s tie and unbuttoning his shirt.

“I guess not.”

“We need to practice how to keep you quiet. Can’t have you waking up the kids in the middle of the night,” Merlin says.

Arthur pulls back and laughs, high off of love and happiness and Merlin.

“I love you, clotpole.”

“I love you too, idiot.”

~~~~FIN~~~~

**Author's Note:**

> AHHH!!! I hope y'all liked this! Especially you, Hisa_Ai!!! As always, kudos and comments are always welcome if y’all are feeling up to it, and if I wrote anything that offended you, please let me know, and I’m so sorry—it was completely unintentional! Thanks so much for reading along! <33333


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